Old-Fashioned Cakes

[David Ross]

The Burnt Sugar Cake is a dense cake in texture, sort of a cross between a light sponge cake and a pound cake. You can find recipes for the cake in a number of old cookbooks. I've adapted the recipe using a combination of all-purpose flour and cake flour along with Heath Bar bits added to the batter.

Burnt Sugar Syrup-

You can use any method for caramelizing sugar. You basically want to end up with sugar that cooks until it forms a deep amber color.

1 1/3 cups granulated sugar

1 1/3 cup boiling water

Place the sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Let the sugar melt slowly in the saucepan. Remove from the heat and add the boiling water. Return the saucepan back to the heat and stir the sugar mixture while it continues to cook. Turn the heat to high and boil the sugar mixture until it's reduced by about 1/2 and turns a deep amber color.

Burnt Sugar Cake-

1/2 cup shortening

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup cake flour

3 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 cup water

3 tbsp. burnt sugar syrup

1/4 cup Heath Bar Bits (optional)

Pre-heat the oven to 375. Grease and flour two 8 or 9" cakepans.

Cream the shortening and sugar in a mixer until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and the eggs and continue to mix until the ingredients are thoroughly combined.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cake flour, baking powder and salt. With the mixer running, alternately add the dry ingredients with the water, continuing to mix until combined. Add the burnt sugar syrup. Stir in the Heath Bar Bits (optional).

Pour the batter in the cake pans and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the cakes cook 15 minutes and then turn the cakes out onto a rack and let them fully cool before frosting.

[nakji]

David, I know you're a fan of pineapple upsidedown cake, so I had to bring this recipe to your attention, if it wasn't already:

From February 2000 Gourmet: Pineapple Upsidedown Cake - with fresh pineapple. This is the best one I've eaten. Ever. Bar none.

[David Ross]

David, I know you're a fan of pineapple upsidedown cake, so I had to bring this recipe to your attention, if it wasn't already:

From February 2000 Gourmet: Pineapple Upsidedown Cake - with fresh pineapple. This is the best one I've eaten. Ever. Bar none.

I'll try it. I never felt that fresh pineapple gave the cake the same sticky-sweet flavor and texture I like, but it's worth a try. Thanks for the link.

[David Ross]

My Mom used to make a Butterscotch Cake with a Penuche Icing - to this day (and I'm OLD) it's my favorite cake - and I was able to introudce my 4 nephew's to this cake and am proud to say it was while eating this cake that I taught each one of them the proper way to eat cake: Cake first, Frosting LAST.....

How ironic you should mention a cake with Penuche flavors. Last night I was reading through my 1953 edition of Ladies Home Journal and there is an ad page for "Junket" brand Penuche flavor "Quick Fudge and Frosting Mix." The recipe on the ad calls for making a cake, then using the Penuche Frosting Mix, add vanilla and pecans to make a frosting.

[nibor]

My mom used to make a banana/walnut sheet cake with Penuche frosting. Yum.

[Lindacakes]

Jesus. Heath bar bits.

[andiesenji]

My Mexican neighbor makes a lovely pineapple flavored cake with a frosting made with the penuche sold in Mexican markets in a hard cone-shaped form.

She grates it coarsely into a sort of cream cheese frosting and it doesn't melt so retains a bit of crunch.

It's nothing like the penuche fudge we used to have when I was a child.

The cake itself has corn flour as well as regular flour in it. It's way too rich for me so I have never asked for the recipe for it or the frosting.

I tasted a piece that was about 1 square inch.

[rebgold]

This is my favorite pound cake recipe. I used it at the restaurant where I baked for years, it's really easy to change the flavors too, you can simmer part of the cream with different things, lavender, lemon zest, ground pistachios. It's good with stuff in it, sliced strawberries, etc... Elvis Presley's favorite pound cake

What do hickory nuts taste like? Anything that can be described?

[andiesenji]

What do hickory nuts taste like? Anything that can be described?

Hickory nuts are sweeter than pecans with not even a hint of the slightly bitter aftertaste often found in even the sweetest pecans.

They are not grown commercially because the nuts are extremely difficult to crack so have to be wild gatherd and they are expensive but once you taste them you realize that pecans, while good, just don't have that special flavor.

Hickory nuts have a very high percentage of the desirable fats that are good for the heart.

The pecan is a hybrid descended from the hickory, probably the shellbark variety.

[David Ross]

I first made this Devil's Food Cake for the Gerry Frank Chocolate Cake Contest at the Oregon State Fair back in 1995 or so. The contest is a tradition at the Fair that started back in 1959. (And certainly there were plenty of "Old-Fashioned" chocolate cake entries back then).

The competition cake was made up of something like 6 or 8 layers of Devil's food sandwiched between layers of Chocolate Ganache and then blanketed with a Milk Chocolate Frosting. Now when I make Devil's Food cake I take a softer approach--just two layers of cake and a frosting made with Hershey's Cocoa. (And a big scoop of vanilla ice cream).

[JTravel]

How about the spanish bar cake - as I recall always purchased at the A&P.

I have not thought about that in YEARS....like maybe 20 years. Nobody around me liked it, the the bar shape/size was very convenient for personal use and it kept in the fridge. Always purchased, never homemade....but IS there a recipe?

[Kerry Beal]

How about the spanish bar cake - as I recall always purchased at the A&P.

I have not thought about that in YEARS....like maybe 20 years. Nobody around me liked it, the the bar shape/size was very convenient for personal use and it kept in the fridge. Always purchased, never homemade....but IS there a recipe?

Here's what I've been playing with in my attempts to imitate it.

A&P Grocery Store Spice Cake

2 ½ cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ginger

½ teaspoon nutmeg

½ cup butter

¼ cup shortening

1 ½ cups sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup applesauce

1 cup plumped raisins

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese

4 tablespoons butter

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 ¼ cups icing sugar

⅓ cup milk

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Mix in dry until just mixed. Put into 9 X 13 pan, bake at 350 about 45 minutes.

[Kay]

Thanks so much for this thread and these wonderful recipes and memories. I am planning to just start at the top and work my way through, baking each of the different cakes in the months to come.

RobertM, do you have a recipe that you could share for your Mom's butterscotch cake and penuche icing. Would love to see it added here.

David, I also deeply crave the recipe for your devils food cake and that gorgeous, creamy frosting.

Andiesenji, I know you don't have a recipe for the coconut cake with the coconut-water syrup that you mentioned earlier, but just curious, I was wondering if you recall, was it a sponge type cake or maybe a butter cake that you had when growing up? Was there grated coconut in the cake batter or was the coconut rather in the filling and on top of the cake instead?

[andiesenji]

Andiesenji, I know you don't have a recipe for the coconut cake with the coconut-water syrup that you mentioned earlier, but just curious, I was wondering if you recall, was it a sponge type cake or maybe a butter cake that you had when growing up? Was there grated coconut in the cake batter or was the coconut rather in the filling and on top of the cake instead?

It was a fairly dense white cake, almost like a pound cake, the cake itself was flavored with vanilla and the syrup that soaked into it after it was baked.

Between the layers was frosting with freshly grated and sweetened.

[lancastermike]

My favorite always has been coconut cake. It was my grandfathers favorite and I have always loved it. It won't be Easter unless I make one.

My mom always made pineapple upside down that I liked. And Boston Cream Pie, that is really a cake. When I make one of them to take someplace it is always a hit

[David Ross]

The original recipe for my Devil's Food Cake came off the back of the Pillsbury "Soft as Silk" Cake Flour box. Cake flour is milled from soft wheat that has very little protein. Thus, cakes made with only cake flour are light and airy with a delicate crumb. (My personal preference for a cake).

The Pillsbury recipe calls for only cake flour. At first, I thought the cake was too light in texture when it was made with only cake flour--it couldn't hold the weight of the heavy chocolate ganache frosting layers that I planned--so I used about 2/3 cake flour and 1/3 all-purpose flour. The cake was denser in texture and stood up well to the weight of the ganache.

Then I started to make Devil's Food Cupcakes and went back to using only cake flour for a light texture. This Devil's Food Cake was made with only cake flour. The recipe calls for both vanilla and almond extract, but I typically only use vanilla because I find almond extract is very strong and I don't want it to interfere with the devil chocolate flavor. The recipe also calls for Dutch-processed Cocoa that is alkalized. Well, I didn't have any Dutch Cocoa in the cupboard and I'm not familiar with the term alkalized, so I used Hershey's Cocoa powder. I've used Dutch Cocoa in the past and found it has a

more dark chocolate flavor and I prefer the lighter flavor of Hershey's Cocoa.

Of course, the trick to a good Devil's Food Cake is to "devil" it with buttermilk. In fact, buttermilk that sits for a few days and gets real tangy is especially good in Devil's Food.

One last note on the cake recipe. The recipe on the box says it makes enough for three 9- round cake pans. I only find the recipe makes enough batter for 2 8" rounds that are 2" deep. And the recipe calls for using Pillsbury brand non-stick spray with flour, but I just grease the pans with Crisco and dust with flour. (And a parchment round on the bottom of the pan also helps).

Devil's Food Cake-

2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup butter, softened

2 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups cake flour

1 cup cocoa powder

2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2-2 1/3 cups buttermilk

Heat the oven to 350. Grease and flour two 8" round cake pans.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the sugar and butter until light and creamy. Add the vanilla and the eggs, one at a time, while continuing to beat the mixture until combined. In a separate bowl, sift together the cake flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. (The recipe says to just mix the dry ingredients, but I sift them together so they are fully incorporated. And--the extra sifting makes for a lighter cake).

Add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk while the mixer is running. Continue to beat until the batter is smooth and creamy. Add additional buttermilk if needed.

Divide the batter between the two cake pans and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. (The recipe calls for a 26-30 minute baking time but my oven calls for about 5-7 minutes longer at 30-35 minutes). Cool the cake pans for 20 minutes on a wire rack before unmolding the cake from the pans. Let the cakes cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate Frosting-

For this Devil's Food Cake I made a basic chocolate frosting. Since the only cocoa I had was Hershey's, I used that for the frosting. The recipe calls for butter OR margarine, but of course I used butter. And I'm the oddball when it comes to baking because I prefer salted butter when most baking recipes call for unsalted butter. The recipe also calls for regular milk, but I substituted buttermilk-partly because I had it on hand for the cake but also because I wanted some tang in the frosting to accent the buttermilk flavor in the cake. I found that the recipe only makes enough frosting to barely cover two 8" rounds, so if you like frosting like I do, double the recipe.

1/2 cup butter

2/3 cup cocoa powder

1/3-1/2 cup buttermilk

3-3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Melt the butter over medium heat in a saucepan. Stir in the cocoa powder and continue to stir until it it combined with the butter and the mixture is smooth and creamy.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and spoon the chocolate mixture into the bowl of a mixer. Beat in the milk alternately with the powdered sugar until the frosting is smooth and creamy. (I stop the mixer a couple of times to check on the consistency of the frosting so it's to the point where it will spread easily on the cake). Add the vanilla. Add additional powdered sugar and buttermilk if necessary to get to the desired consistency.

And here it is again-

[Kay]

Thanks so much andiesenji and David. Beautiful stuff!! I love anything made with buttermilk, so the Devil's Food Cake is looking even better now.

[Toliver]

...And the recipe calls for using Pillsbury brand non-stick spray with flour, but I just grease the pans with Crisco and dust with flour. (And a parchment round on the bottom of the pan also helps).

Martha Stewart has also suggested that when baking a chocolate cake, instead of using flour to coat the greased pans, use cocoa instead.

Thanks for posting the recipe. It looks delicious!

[CaliPoutine]

David, I know you're a fan of pineapple upsidedown cake, so I had to bring this recipe to your attention, if it wasn't already:

From February 2000 Gourmet: Pineapple Upsidedown Cake - with fresh pineapple. This is the best one I've eaten. Ever. Bar none.

I havent seen this recipe, but have you tried Cook's Illustrated's? Its awesome. They also have a fresh ginger/coconut variation which is awesome as well.

[CaliPoutine]

David,

Have you tried the Burnt sugar cake with butter instead of crisco? I dont really like the mouth feel of crisco.

[qrn]

Its called double chocolate cheesecake, but It probably does not count here, Just made a couple of individual ones for desert last night...chocolate fix,,,,

Bud

[David Ross]

David,

Have you tried the Burnt sugar cake with butter instead of crisco? I dont really like the mouth feel of crisco.

You know I haven't substituted butter for the Crisco in the cake but if I got the ratio right, I think it would be delicious.

[Plantes Vertes]

Victoria sponge for a friend's birthday. Mixed it the old-fashioned way, with my arm! 

 

[David Ross]

Looks delicious and obviously using the old-fashioned method of mixing gave you a cake with plenty of volume.

[Plantes Vertes]

My grandma's recipe stresses creaming the butter and sugar together, then whisking in the eggs one by one and folding the flour in gently to preserve the air bubbles.